QGroundControl vs Mission Planner GCS
Which open-source ground control station should a new UAV integration team start from?
Last reviewed 8/13/2026. Data checked within the review cycle.
Review cycles are documented on the Methodology page. Methodology
2 objects · 6 fields · 0 Unknown cells preserved
Scope
Metadata and repository facts recorded from the official GitHub API on 2026-08-13. Flight-testing behavior, UX preference and hardware certification are deliberately not compared because the indexed sources do not provide field-level evidence.
Field-level evidence
| Field | mavlink/qgroundcontrol | ArduPilot/MissionPlanner |
|---|---|---|
| License GitHub API repository license.spdx_id | Apache-2.0 Tier A 2026-08-13 Source | GPL-3.0 Tier A 2026-08-13 Source |
| License status Repository record license status | Inferred from GitHub API license object Tier A 2026-08-13 Source | Inferred from GitHub API license object Tier A 2026-08-13 Source |
| Last repository activity GitHub API repository updated_at | 2026-08-13T06:32:33Z Tier A 2026-08-13 Source | 2026-08-10T14:23:23Z Tier A 2026-08-13 Source |
| Maintenance status GitHub API archived flag and updated_at | active Tier A 2026-08-13 Source | active Tier A 2026-08-13 Source |
| Official site GitHub API homepage | http://qgroundcontrol.io Tier A 2026-08-13 Source | http://ardupilot.org/planner/ Tier A 2026-08-13 Source |
| Owner type GitHub API owner.type | Organization Tier A 2026-08-13 Source | Organization Tier A 2026-08-13 Source |
This comparison does not rank the projects. Field values come only from the linked sources; unrecorded values remain Unknown.
Verification sequence
- Open each repository page and confirm license and maintenance status from the official API.
- Run each GCS in simulation with the same flight stack and record which workflows are reproducible.
- Verify platform support and telemetry protocols against the official documentation before choosing.
Limitations
- This comparison records repository-level facts only.
- It does not certify flight-safety behavior or hardware compatibility of any combination.
- Unknown cell values are kept as Unknown; absence of a value is not a judgment.